Iron Poisoning?

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Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
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Thanks for all your replies as I try to determine what is going on with my tank.

Does anyone know the symptoms of iron poisoning? I thought of this last night - that I use a fertilizer for my plants with a fairly high iron content.

I notice many of the dying fish have air bubbles on their tummies too. Any guesses?

Thank you again for all your help.
 
How much iron are you adding?? <Calculate the ppm of iron added to your tank: (content of Fe in fertilizer in mg/ml x amount added in ml)/amount of water in tank in liters>

People add 0.1-0.3 ppm of Fe weekly without problem, and I am sure higher doses are OK for fish. Inorganic iron is not that well absorbed, and most iron preps are chelated anyway. <Chelation agent is what you use to get rid of iron from your body in case of posioning.>

I don't know about fish, but in people, Fe posioning causes liver problems & you really need hugh amounts given parentally <ie not by mouth>. I very much doubt your tank has that much iron to cause fish death.

Now, most people dose Fe as trace mixes, which has other stuff .... overdose of these (copper comes to mind) might give you problems.
 
I notice many of the dying fish have air bubbles on their tummies too.

This is an interesting observation, there is nothing that I know of that would allow air bubbles to cling to fish. It sounds more like an external parasite (ich) or fungal issue. I agree with jsoong regarding the Fe not being the issue.
 
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